1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method and pest control article for capturing or eliminating rodents and insects in an aesthetically, unobtrusive manner.
2. The Related Art
Insects and rodents are uninvited intruders within our homes and businesses. Pest control is a major industry. Poisoned bait and traps are primary weapons in pest control. Unfortunately, these weapons must often be deployed in areas visible to others. Homeowners would prefer not to advertise that they have a pest control problem. Neighbors might conclude that the infested household is subject to poor housekeeping or other domestic sanitary failure.
Commercial establishments are even more seriously concerned with the problem. Customers must not be given the impression of unsanitary conditions. This is particularly so with hotels, restaurants, and all stores with edible merchandise. Traps left in the open on such premises are aesthetically displeasing; they leave a negative impression of the establishment in the minds of the public.
Rodent control has a long history. U.S. Pat. No. 619,754 (Hunter et al.) discloses a mouse trap based upon a guillotine principle. A choker-wire is housed within the body of a corn cob. Presumably, at least some portion of the trapped mouse is held within the corn cob body out of visible sight.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,637,931 (Sklar) discloses an animal trap based on a trigger-operated release mechanism allowing a spring-loaded jaw to close over the trapped animal body. A simulated cat's head will overlie at least a portion of a mouse so unfortunate as to encounter the spring-loaded jaw.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,803 (Kaiser) describes a miniature house opened at one end with a trap mechanism mounted on an inner wall. The arrangement is intended to allow disposal of the trapped dead animal without personal contact.
In all the foregoing described devices, the body of the caught rodent, at least in part, may not be visible publicly. Nonetheless, the traps themselves are in open view. They signal that the premises may have an infestation. A method is necessary to avoid the public embarrassment and negative press associated with traps in open view.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and article which can control pests while still being out of view from anyone other than the pest control engineers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and article of pest control which can be used in conjunction with immovable synthetic landscape.